This is my all-time favourite Scottish novel and learners can really engage with story and characters. When Charlie Forbes, an altruistic (and promotion-hungry) teacher decides to take a boy from the Glasgow slums on holiday with him and his family, it has tragic yet inevitable consequences. Study of this text touches on the universal theme of nature versus nurture and also raises questions about child poverty and the lack of opportunity for those in it that still exists around the world today.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Who can resist the story of wee Pip Pirrip and the good fortune that falls upon him? With a cast of interesting characters and perhaps one of the most atmospheric opening scenes in the history of the novel, this story, in whatever format, appeals to so many. Literature from this era isn't for everyone, not least because some young people find it difficult to access, but they can always understand the story itself. Like Frankenstein later on in the list, I think it's important to share the great stories of the canon just as much as it is to study the complex narratives and structures.

Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

Why? It's about politics, innit? And for that reason it will always be relevant. At a time when young people demonstrate a particular apathy towards politics in the UK it serves as a reminder as to what it means to make sacrifices for the greater good. Rich in metaphor and complex characters, there's so much scope to be creative in the teaching of this text. One of my favourite lessons, ever, was when groups presented to the class the character development of Caesar through the medium of music. When Friday, period four, opens to the sound of The Prodigy you know you've struck job satisfaction gold.

The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald

A pleasure to read, The Great Gatsby teaches us about the laissez-faire attitudes of the moneyed classes in jazz-age United States while commenting on the wastelands of the post-Great War world. I love to begin teaching this with lessons researching the music, fashion and attitudes of the times to create an understanding of the roaring twenties. Understanding the motives of the somewhat shallow characters is not always easy for learners but with in-depth analysis and evaluation the lightbulbs slowly but surely switch on.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Narrated by Scout Finch, we see small town US in the 1930s through the eyes of one of the town's more liberal inhabitants. Educated mostly by their father (arguably the most popular daddy from all of literature) Scout and her brother, Jem, grow and mature while coming to terms with the injustice and cruelty of their environment. So much of literature depicts the law and this novel provides a valuable insight into one of the horrors of the recent past.

Tsotsi by Athol Fugard

Perhaps not a 'classic' as such, but a fantastic example of how the study of literature helps us to understand situations that we can never, ever experience for ourselves. Having lived and taught in South Africa, I am particularly fond of South African writing and my reading of it really helped me appreciate why the scars of the apartheid regime are taking so long to heal. While the textbooks informed my knowledge, it was the raw writing of the apartheid years that shaped my real understanding of this bleak time in history.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

OK, I know a woman of my age really should know that men like Heathcliff are to be avoided but having studied this novel in my mid-teens I have to confess to being drawn to the brooding intensity of one of literature's great lovers. Yes, its hyperbolic passion is cringe-worthy. And yes, it is largely unbelievable, but the desire and destruction borne out in the relationship between Cathy and Heathcliff is, at least, something that we can all identify with, whether we've experienced it or not.

Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw

This play never fails to provoke varying and strong reactions from those studying it and as we all know, discussion and debate is vital to an in-depth appreciation of any text. Although the idea of Eliza's 'rags-to-riches' experience is, today, less of an alien concept, students always find Henry Higgins' self-interest and his male dominance over the female Eliza, absurd, which of course leads to lively discussion. An added bonus is that it provides a great opportunity to hone the Cockney accent.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

As with Great Expectations I really believe that everyone can enjoy the great stories of literature without having to plough through the dense narrative and structures of many of the classics. Young people just love the story of Frankenstein and, even if they come to it thinking that the monster does in fact look like his green-faced, bolt-necked, Scooby-Doo character, they leave it with a much keener sense of what it means to be judged solely on appearance. The discussion generated from the study of this text (I tend to use the drama script, adapted from Shelley's novel by Phillip Pullman with younger classes) reminds me of how sensitive, insightful and honest young people can be.

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

It would have been wrong to exclude Arthur Miller from this list. His plays are a staple of the book cupboards in English departments and although that can be considered a negative (tired and over used) the young people studying his works are doing so for the first time. The master of the tragic hero, Miller creates characters that we care about, despite their flaws. I enjoy teaching this play particularly as the way it is structured, combined with Miller's use of setting, music and lighting helps students to appreciate the mechanics and skill involved in staging a production.

Sally Law is the principal teacher of English at Marr College in Troon, Scotland, and is a member of the Guardian Teacher Network adviser panel.